"The Road to Mandalay", June 7-10 2015

From Hsipaw we took a bus to Mandalay (7,000 kyat) that lasted 8 hours instead of 6 because of a truck blocking the road. A seemingly nice (or so we thought) young taxi driver took us to ET hotel (23$ for AC room including breakfast) and we also decided to book with him a sightseeing tour around the city for the following day. Mandalay has a rich history and an abundance of interesting sights as it was the last royal capital of the Burmese empire before the British invaded in 1885, and the nearby ancient cities of Amarapura and Inwa also served as capitals in earlier times.

We started our tour visiting Mahamuni Paya, a temple and an important pilgrim site housing a 3.8m gold buddha figure, to which male devotees ceremoniously apply golden leaves, adding to the 15 cm layer of pure gold that accumulated over the years!  Next we climbed up Sagaing Hill to visit another temple and get some great views of the surrounding area. From the hill we continued to Maha Ganayon Kyaung Monastery  in Amarapura, home to about 1,000 monks and where the major attraction seem to be watching the monks line up for lunch at 10:30. Similar to our experience in Bago, it might feel a bit off considering there are many tourists standing there watching and taking pictures, but then again I got some nice shots so I can't complain. 

applying gold leaves in Mahamuni Paya

view from Sagaing Hill

young monks in Maha Ganayon Kyaung monastery

Next we drove to the ancient city of Inwa where we discovered the true nature of our driver/guide who was trying to cheat us in what seemed like a common tourist "scam". He basically "forgot" to mention that in order to get to Inwa you need to cross a river with a boat and then rent a horse cart on the other side  to see the sights (all this for additional pay), or instead pay him extra to take us around the river to Inwa. Maybe it is not a big deal but after we booked and agreed on a price for the whole day it was upsetting to be asked for more money and mostly it was the principle that he purposely hid the information from us. The same exact thing was happening to a group right next to us so we knew it wasn't just out driver doing this. We were arguing with our driver and were mainly disappointed because he seemed nice and trustworthy beforehand and also this was the first bad experience we had in Myanmar, whereas all the locals we met up until this point were truly kind and honest. After he became very rude and even threatened to call the police (we told him go ahead because we knew he was the one at fault) we eventually paid him for half a day and dismissed him.  

After this unpleasant ordeal was finally settled, we hopped on the boat sailing across the Myitnge river to reach Inwa (1000 kyat return per person). Once you cross the river the only option you have is to rent a horse-drawn cart (11,000 kyat for 3 people) to see the sights as they are widely spread out. Inwa, called Ava by the British, was the ancient capital of the Burmese kingdom for nearly four centuries; today only a few sites remain standing but they are quite impressive nonetheless. There is 10,000K archaeological fee to pay for some of the sites, and it is also valid for the Mandalay Palace in town. Our friendly horse-cart driver took us around the bumpy roads of the town and we visited Maha Aung Mye Bonzan monastery, a striking brick monastery from the Konbaung dynasty; Bagaya Kaung, an old teak monastery; Nanmyin, a 30m watchtower sometimes called "the leaning watchtower of Inwa" and the only remnant of King Bagyidaw's palace complex; and the impressive ruins of Yadana Hsimi Pagodas, hurt in the 1839 earthquake that devastated the city. 

Maha Aung Mye Bonzan monastery

Nanmyin tower

Bagaya monastery

Yadana Hsimi pagoda

We returned across the river and found a taxi that took us to Amarapura's claim to fame, U Bein’s Bridge, the biggest teak bridge in the world where we strolled alongside tourists and monks and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. At night we went out with Liron to the Diamond Cinema where we watched the great action film Mad Max in 3D (3000 Kyat per ticket).

Next morning we headed to the "tourist jetty" and hopped on a boat sailing up the Irrawaddy river to the riverside village of Mingun (5000 Kyat return ticket, one hour, leaves 9:00 am and returns 1:00 pm, passport needed to purchase tickets). Once you get off the boat you are required to pay the zone fee for visiting the sites (3000 kyat per person). The most famous attraction is the Mingun Paya or Mingun Pahtodawgyi, planned to be the world's biggest pagoda by King Bodawpaya in 1790 but left unfinished because of a dreadful prophecy claiming once the pagoda is complete the country will be ruined or the king will die. Another version contests the construction stopped due to the heavy death toll of the prisoners who were building it. Somewhat damaged by the 1839 earthquake today it stands only 50 meters tall (the original plan was 150 m)  but you can climb to the top and get a beautiful view. Another site brought to you by the same megalomaniac King is the Mingun bell weighing 90 tons and said to be the world's largest uncreased bell. Perhaps the most striking is the less famous Hsinbyume Paya also known as Myatheindan pagoda, a majestic blindingly-white pagoda exhibiting unusual architecture with its 7 wavy terraces said to represent the seven mountain that surround Mt. Meru- the center of the Buddhist universe.

Mingun Paya

Mingun Bell

Hsinbyume Paya

Back in Mandalay we made a quick visit to Mandalay Palace, the last palace of the Burmese monarchy that was almost completely destroyed in WWII but was fully restored in the 90's. Notice that entrance to foreigners is only through the east gate. In the evening we had dinner in Rainbow restaurant that serves good vegetarian BBQ dishes and salads together with ice-cold Myanmar beer.

view of Mandalay Hill

Mandalay Palace

Next morning we said our goodbyes to -Liron who has been travelling with us for almost two weeks and has become such a great friend, and also bid farewell to magical Myanmar, concluding a wonderful three weeks in the country. We hopped on the convenient free (!) Air-Asia shuttle bus from downtown to Mandalay Airport (1 hour 45 min) where we boarded an Air-Asia flight to Bangkok, Thailand (48$ ticket per person inc. 20Kg baggage fee).